


How to Build a Life

by JillMarie



Category: CW Network RPF, Supernatural RPF
Genre: Community: spn_meanttobe, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-27
Updated: 2016-08-15
Packaged: 2018-07-10 12:23:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6984913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JillMarie/pseuds/JillMarie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the  spn_meanttobe community on LJ<br/>Prompt: 78.Falling in Love<br/>Katie Morgan thinks she's doing her boss, Wade McAlester, a favor by setting him up on blind dates.</p><p>Jensen's married to his job.  He kind of has to be since the family business supports his entire family. But he wasn't always a workaholic. Once upon a time he had planned to date Jared. But that couldn’t happen if Jared was his assistant. When they find out he’s working Sundays, Jensen’s employees decide to create an online dating profile for him because finding him someone to love is the best way to get him out of the office. Jared gets more jealous with each date until he finally takes drastic action.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

* * *

Jared arrived early, hoping to make Jensen a coffee before the day started. He was desperate to make a good impression that morning. The day before Jared had tucked a project binder into Jensen’s briefcase.  Unfortunately Jensen's car was in the lot and his office door was closed. As Jared debated whether he should knock to tell Jensen he was there or if he should get the coffee started, Jensen's office door opened.

"Jared, come in here a minute." Jensen didn't wait for a reply. He turned on his heel, expecting Jared to follow.  Once Jared entered the room, Jensen looked him in the eye. "Close the door, please."

Jared stumbled in surprise -- Jensen never closed his office door – but with a nervous step back, he closed the door.

"Take a seat," Jensen said indicating the chair opposite his with a nod. He held up a small binder. "This bid for the hospital wing is yours, right?"

"Yes," Jared nodded. “Is there something wrong with it?" Jared cringed at the timidity he heard in his voice. But, in his mind his whole future rested on Jensen’s opinion of that bid.

“No.  In fact, it's well done and thoroughly researched. I appreciate the hard work you put into this.” Jensen smoothed a hand over the carefully assembled project. “Which is why it kills me to say this but, you're fired.”

Jared pushed himself upright in his chair. “What? Why? I did it on my own time. I didn't use company resources. You said yourself that it was well done. Wh-why am I fired?”

“Because this kind of work shows me that your abilities are being wasted as my assistant.”  Jensen’s voice was calm and unemotional.  “You won't quit because you haven't finished your degree and you don't have a license.”

Jared slumped back into the chair. He'd never get a degree if he didn't have a job to pay for school.

“This is an excellent bid, Jared. Unfortunately, I can't give it back to you because you name our vendors and prices. Also, you have to sign a non-compete contract. If this project gets developed with any of your ideas, I'll go after that company for every penny.”

Jared's jaw fell open. Jensen took away his job and was now preventing him from working anywhere else.

Jensen blew out a breath. “Now, ideally it won't come to that.  Ideally you will take an apprenticeship with our company and work with Mark and his team until you have your license.”  He scratched his head. “Our firm hadn't bothered bidding on the hospital expansion.  I didn't think we could handle the job.  But with the figures you present here,” he held up Jared's proposal, “We have an excellent chance of winning the hospital bid and making a decent profit. Wherein lies my problem. I can't give you the commission because of the license issue.” He gave Jared an awkward smile. “You really put me in a moral dilemma here, Jared.”

Jared's brows wrinkled in confusion. “Did you just offer me an apprenticeship?”

“Yes.”

“But I thought I was fired.”

“You are. There is no way I'm letting you squander your talents and your brain being my assistant. You're too good for that job, so, yeah, you’re totally fired.”

“But I like being your assistant.”

“Of course you do. I'm an awesome boss.” Jensen grinned at him and Jared felt himself begin to smile too. Then Jensen's expression turned to one of concern. “Jared, you want more for yourself than just being my assistant, don't you?”

Jared shrugged.  He wanted more but he couldn't afford the schooling needed for a degree. And being Jensen's assistant had perks. It meant seeing him every day.

“You know that an apprenticeship counts towards credits, right? And, if you agree to apprentice here, you'll make commission on every bid you help write that we win. Including the hospital one _if_ you let me make minor changes.”

Jared's mind raced. Jensen was making it sound like the new position would solve all Jared's problems.  Jensen took Jared's hesitation to mean he was unsure. “Jared, take the day to think about it. Tell me by five o'clock how you want to move forward and we'll take it from there.”

Jared stood, “Yeah. Okay.  Five o'clock. I'll tell you my decision.”

 

He left Jensen's office and returned to his desk.   _Holy shit._ He had hoped his proposal would impress Jensen, but this was beyond his expectations.  He wanted to work closely with Jensen. Truthfully, he wanted to do more than work with Jensen. Since the day he started, he had wanted more.

 

* * *

 

_Jared was aware he wasn’t the only person applying for the job. There were a half dozen candidates testing for the position. But once Jared saw the man he’d be working for, he became fiercely determined to win the assistant job._

_Jensen Ackles had broad shoulders, muscled forearms, and a smile that melted the polar ice caps. Every time he looked Jared’s way, Jared felt like a spring getting wound tighter._

_Jared’s only real competition for the job was a pretty blond woman, not much older than he was.  She had that all-American girl next door look and she had made Jensen laugh; Jared hated her.  However, Jensen’s mother was in charge of the hiring. Once Jared proved to be proficient in excel and the accounting software, Mrs. Ackles hired him._

 

_According to Jensen Ackles’ open door policy, anyone was welcome in his office at any time.  He kept his door open to show his employees that he had nothing to hide. It also proved he worked as hard as or harder than they did._

_On Jared's second day, he walked into Jensen's office without knocking and startled the man into throwing the papers he was studying._

_“Sorry.”  Jared rushed to help gather the papers._

_“Jesus, Jared, you scared the crap out of me. How does someone as big as you move so silently? You nearly gave me a heart attack,” Jensen panted with a hand on his chest as his heartbeat recovered. “I'm getting you a bell to wear around your neck,” he teased as he straightened his paperwork._

_“Sorry,” Jared repeated with a shrug._

_Jensen waved off the apology with a smile. “What can I do for you?”_

**_Marry me_ ** _, Jared sighed to himself as he gazed into the gorgeous green eyes of his boss. He took a breath to quiet his crush and said,  “I need your signature on these documents for the Biltmore project, Mr. Ackles.”_

_Reaching for the file, his boss said, “Mr. Ackles is my dad.  Everyone here will think you mean him if you refer to me as Mr. Ackles. Call me Jensen.”_

_Jared nodded, “Right, okay, sorry. I'll try to remember that.”_

_Jensen signed the papers and regarded Jared with a playful smirk. “And I'll try to remember you're a ninja.”_

 

Jensen's hand landed on his shoulder, tugging Jared from his memory.

“Jared, you're fired. Seriously. You may have been the best assistant I ever had and ever will have, but if you stay here you'll be too distracted to weigh your options properly.”  He sat on the edge of Jared's desk. “Look, what I said about the non-compete clause, you can forget it.   I definitely don't want you to take this bid somewhere else, but you should check out other companies and see what programs they offer. You're smart, Jared. You shouldn't limit yourself. It will kill me to lose you, but maybe Felicia can figure out a way to clone you.” He squeezed Jared's shoulder as he stood. “Now get out of here. Don't come back until you've made a decision.”

 

* * *

 

Jared went home and called the one person he could always rely on, his mother.  She answered the phone in her usual pleasant tone. “Jared!  I didn't expect to hear from you so early. What did Jensen say about your proposal?”

“Uh, well, he liked it, I guess.”

“You guess?  Either he liked it or he didn't.  You know him well enough by now to tell.”

“He liked it. He said it was very well done. So well done that I'm fired.”

“Fired?! That rat bastard! How dare he fire you! Does he think he can --”

“Mom!” Jared had to shout to stoop his mother's rant. “Jensen fired me as his assistant because my proposal showed I was too good for that job.  Then he offered me an apprenticeship.”

On the other end of the line Jared's mom sat down.  An apprenticeship would end all of Jared's money woes.  She had hoped Jensen would realize her son's potential, but this was unexpected. “Oh, Jared that's wonderful news. I take back everything I said about him. When do you start?”

“That's just it, Mom. Jensen sent me home to figure out what I want to do.  He even told me I should contact other companies to see what they could offer.  I'm supposed to tell him my decision by five today.”

“What is there to decide? Of course you want the job he's offering. You know nothing about those other companies. But you know Jensen and you know he runs a good business.”

“Yeah but I like being Jensen's assistant and helping him everyday.” Jared wavered.

“Jared, I know you admire the man. Maybe once you're on more equal footing you can act on your feelings,” she paused but Jared didn't speak. “Either way, you don't want to be his assistant forever.”

“No, I don't, but – ”

“Jared, I didn't raise fools. Go tell him you'll take the job.”

“Yes, Mom.”

 

* * *

 

Back in Jensen's office Eric Kripke read over Jared's hospital bid. When he finished he looked over at Jensen in awe. “Damn.”

Jensen nodded in agreement.  “I know. I mean I didn't think we could do it but Jared just,” he waved his hand at the papers to complete his thought.

“This,” Eric began, “we could do this, Jensen. And if we do, this firm takes a huge step forward.  We'd be playing in the majors.” They exchanged looks. “Your dad is gonna shit his pants.”

Jensen laughed. “I'll wait to tell him until after we win the bid.”

“Oh, we'll win,” Eric asserted as he stood up.  “Where is the boy wonder? I want to congratulate him.”

“I fired him,” Jensen replied suddenly looking ill at his decision.

“You what now?”  Eric fell back into his seat feeling panicked.

“I fired him,” Jensen repeated meekly. “He's too smart to be my assistant, so I fired him.  I offered him an apprenticeship, though.”

Eric ran a hand through his thinning hair. In a voice tight with stress he asked, “Did he take it?”

“I sent him home to think about it.”

“Jesus Jensen!  What if he takes the bid to another company? What if he takes it to Amell? What the fuck were you thinking?” Eric's incredulous look was enough to chastise Jensen.

Jensen sighed feeling like the idiot Eric thought he was. “I wanted what was best for Jared. I don't think he'll go someplace else.”

Eric shook his head as the real reason for Jensen's actions became clear to him.  “Shit, Jensen, you really like this guy, don't you. You've never thought with your dick before.”

“And I'm not now,” Jensen argued indignantly.  “You said it yourself, that's a damn good proposal.”

“I did and it is, Jensen.  But you said you wanted what was best for Jared, not what is best for the company. You have feelings for him.”

“So? I'm not going to date my assistant.”

“He's not your assistant. You fired him.” Eric waited but Jensen remained quiet. “Is that why you fired him? So you could ask him out?”

“No.”

Eric raised a doubtful brow.

“Okay. Maybe a little. Maybe I was hoping he'd take the apprenticeship and after he settled in, I'd see if he wanted to ...” Jensen trailed off as a car pulling in the lot caught his eye.

“Wanted to what?  Get a blow job? Do you in the conference room?” Eric joked knowing that Jensen was only half listening.

“Yes, no. You asshole. I meant I'd ask him out. You know, see if he wanted to get drinks after work or something. No one's fucking anybody in the conference room.”

“Not yet,” Eric teased.

Jensen's eyes darted back to the window. A smile brightened his face as the anxiety he felt a moment ago disappeared. “Get out of here. Jared just pulled up.”

Eric stood to go. “You could convince him to stay by offering him a blow job.”

“Shut up, Eric, I don't even know why I even talk to you.”

“Because I am older and wiser and I solve all your problems.”

Jensen wasn't listening. He tidied his desk and smoothed a hand over his shirt and hair all of which made Eric grin as he left the office.

 

 

When the exterior door opened, Jensen stood nervously at his desk.  His heart pounded and his breath caught in his throat when he heard Eric start talking. “Hey Jared. That's a hell of a bid you drew up.  I can't wait to start working with you.”

“Thanks Eric.”

A moment later Jared was standing in Jensen's doorway. “Hey Jensen, you got a minute?”

“Of course, Jared, come in, sit down.” Jensen asked barely able to keep a smile off his face as he walked around his desk to flip off Eric and shut the office door. “Have you made your decision?”

“Yeah. I want to apprentice here.”

“Yes!” Jensen's smile could have powered a small town. “Jared that is awesome. You just made my whole year.”

Jared had to grin at Jensen's infectious joy. “Well, good, thanks, I guess.”

“No, thank you!  When can you start?   Because I think you would be a perfect fit with Eric's crew as they finish up that strip mall on Maple.”

Jared looked confused.  “What about the hospital? I thought I'd start there.”

“We have to win that contract, first.  Which we will with your excellent proposal.”  Jensen picked up that binder again.  “Jared, you realize I have to make changes to this, right?”

“Yeah of course.” Jared shrugged off Jensen's concern.

“Jared, one of those changes is taking your name off it.  We can list you as a consultant, but – “

“I know,” Jared nodded. “I don't have my license.”

“I'll make sure you get everything you've got coming to you,” Jensen assured him.

Jared nodded again, showing his complete faith in Jensen. “I trust you.”

Jensen smiled modestly. “Thanks. Do you have time to fill out some paperwork for your new position here at ADA?”

“Sure, whatever you need.”

Jensen opened a desk drawer but didn't find what he wanted. “Uh, just a second.” He went to a file cabinet and came up empty again. He scratched his head and looked around his office. “I can't find the HR forms. You need to fill out a new w4, insurance forms and stuff.”

“But all my information is on file.”

“New division, new forms. I want to make sure everything is done right with this transfer.”  Jensen rubbed at his mouth in thought and looked towards Jared's old desk.  “Do you think my former assistant kept them out there?”

“Yeah, I know he did.” Jared stood up to retrieve the forms.

“Sit your ass down.  Lucky for both of us my former assistant was awesome and I bet I'll find the forms in the file cabinet under.... employment forms?” Jensen guessed.

“Human resources drawer in the second cabinet.”

“Right. That's what I thought. Human resources. I'll be right back, Mr. Padalecki.” Jensen patted Jared's shoulder as he left to get the paperwork.

When he returned, Jensen handed Jared a stack of papers and a pen. “Fill these out and then we'll work on the apprenticeship agreement.”

The phone rang twice as Jensen reviewed the agreement with Jared. Jared jumped to answer it both times and each time Jensen stopped him with a mock annoyed glare and answered it himself. The first call he redirected to Richard, the second call was his mother.

"Jensen? What are you doing answering the phone? Where's Jared?"

"I fired him, mom."  He winked across the desk at Jared while he spoke.

"What? Jensen! You didn't! Why would you fire Jared? He was wonderful!  Did he quit to go back to school? What happened?"

"Well, mother, if you liked him so much why don't you--"

"Stop teasing your mother like that, Jensen," Jared said loudly enough for Mrs. Ackles to hear him.

"Ha! I knew you didn't fire him. You like Jared too much to fire him."

“Jared was too smart to be my assistant so, I hired him on as an apprentice. He's going to be working with Eric as they finish the strip mall and then he'll move on to our new project."

"That's wonderful. Congratulate Jared for me."

Jensen covered the mouthpiece and said, "Mom says congrats."

"Does this mean you don't have an assistant?" his mom asked.

"For the time being. I'll call an agency or something later today."

"You could call Mackenzie..."

"No Mom. I'm not calling Mackenzie. She's got enough on her hands with school."

"Well, Mrs. Harris told me her daughter just moved back to town and is looking for work."

“You're not trying to set me up with my assistant are you?” Jensen rolled his eyes but Jared froze. Did they mean him or the new one?  

"Of course not, dear. Oh, I almost forgot the reason for my call. Dinner at ours on Sunday, remember. It's Nana's birthday. Did you remember to pick up her gift?"

Again Jensen turned to Jared for help.  "Nana's gift?"

Jared nodded. "Being delivered here Friday."

"It's arriving Friday, Mom."

“Perfect. I don't know how you're going to get along without Jared.”

“Mom, like I said I don't have to get along without Jared, he still works here.”  


 

After polishing Jared's proposal and presenting it to the hospital board, Jensen knew he had made the right decision. Jared did not belong working as his assistant. The board loved the design. Jared's plan included keeping the facility green which would save the hospital money in the long run.

* * *

  


A few months later Jensen sat at his desk sorting through piles of paperwork. Everytime he finished one stack of papers there would be an annoying beeping sound and another million pages would ‘magically’ appear before him. _Beep_ That noise really had to stop, so annoying. _Beep_

Jensen blinked his eyes open. Odd, he didn’t have blinds on his bedroom window. Aw, fuck, he’d fallen asleep at the office. Again.  Only now he was even dreaming about about work.

His back and shoulders popped and creaked as he stretched and his neck shot sparks of pain letting him know it wasn’t happy being mistreated. _Beep_ He shut off his phone alarm, grateful it woke him before his staff arrived. Maybe he’d have time to go home, shower, and have a cup of coffee and some breakfast.

His phone chirped with his calendar reminders for the day.   _Jared meeting 8am._  That didn’t leave him enough time to go home. He’d have to shower at work. He looked around his office wondering if he had clean clothes and found a company polo shirt still in its package.  It would have to do. And so would the cargo pants he kept for visiting the build sites.  His gym bag held everything else he needed. Everything but coffee, that is.

On his way to the locker room, Jensen walked by the break room and eyed the expensive coffee machine his mother insisted upon buying. For the millionth time, he attempted to coax it into doing the one thing he cared about: making a cup of coffee. But  BANG the stupid BANG thing wouldn’t BANG do anything but  BANG BANG BANG drizzle out hot water. And banging on it did no good.

Refreshed after his shower, Jensen texted Danneel begging that she bring in Starbucks and promising he’d pay her for it.  Then he returned to his office and prepared for his meeting with Jared.

Twenty minutes later Danneel strolled in and placed a large cup in front of Jensen.  It was iced. It was green and it wasn’t coffee. “Thanks, but you didn’t need to go through all the trouble of,” he held up the cup to finish his thought. “Plain black coffee is good enough for me.”

Danneel smiled brightly. “But that’s healthier,” she said pointing at the cup before she left the room.

Jensen groaned.  Coffee.  Not iced green tea chai herbal whatever the hell it is that Danneel bought for him ‘because it’s healthy’. He needed coffee.  His head was beginning to ache with caffeine withdrawal.

 

Suddenly, Jared was filling his doorway like a bronze god. “Jensen, you wanted to see me?”

“Did you bring coffee?” Jensen whined.

Jared chuckled. “No, but I think Felicia just fired up the Juro. Want me to get you a cup?”

Jensen had crossed the room as Jared spoke. “No, no. I'll get it.” He looked up at Jared as if finally recognizing him. “Please, sit. I'll be right back.”

Jensen returned a moment later with two cups. He handed one to Jared and then drew a two sweeteners and two creamers from his pocket and set them on the desk in front of Jared.

Jared smiled to himself as he fixed his coffee. He was surprised that Jensen remembered how he took his coffee.

After finishing half a cup, Jensen felt like a human again. He looked over at Jared. “Sorry. Apparently Danneel doesn't like coffee and she won't make it. She brought me this instead.” Jensen retrieved his iced green chai latte from the trash.

“I think making coffee was in my job description,” Jared shrugged.

“Right?!” Jensen replied feeling like he had an ally in Jared. “I should fire her.” He scowled in Danneel’s general direction.

Jared blinked in surprise. “Because of the coffee?”

Jensen groaned. “You're right. Stupid idea. She's pretty good at everything else.”

Jared noticed Jensen’s polo and khakis. Unusual attire if Jensen’s not going to a work site. Then he glanced around the office, noticed the gym bag on Jensen’s couch and the stubble on Jensen’s jaw.  Had Jensen slept at the office? How often was he doing that?

“Did you sleep here, Mr. Ackles?”

“Don't,” Jensen began with a shake of his head. “Don't call me Mr. Ackles. And yeah,” Jensen reluctantly admitted, “I fell asleep working on the budget. Don’t get all motherly about it.”

“Yeah, you’re lucky I don’t call your mother. Finish your coffee and then you can explain why you called me to your office.”

“Shut up.” But Jensen heeded his advice and took another sip letting the caffeine chase away the cobwebs. “You’re here for this.”  He handed Jared an envelope.

Inside the envelope was a check. The amount of which was nearly one third Jared's annual income. Speechless for a minute all Jared did was gape at the check. “Wh-what is this for?”

Jensen shrugged. “Well, I'm calling it a bonus, but it's what your commission would be for the hospital project.”

“I don't understand.”

“Well, I can't legally pay you a commission, so I have to call it a bonus,” Jensen explained.

“But this is so much. There's no way we earned that on this project.”

Jared's use of 'we' put a smile on Jensen's face. “Well, it's also a bonus, Jared. We came in ahead of schedule on the mall because of you and that meant the company earned a bonus.”  As he watched Jared ogle the check again Jensen added, “There's one stipulation though. You have to buy a nice suit. Like not off the rack but tailored and it should be black or maybe a dark blue.”

Jared looked at him confused. “For like meetings?”

“No. I mean I guess you could wear it for that if you wanted. But you're going to need a suit for the hospital benefit on the eighteenth.  It's not black tie, but it is formal.”

“Benefit?” Jared's voice squeaked. “I'm not going to the benefit.”

“Of course you are. It's your freakin' design. The whole thing is basically about you. You're going.”

“But I --”

“You can bring a date.”

“I'm not --”

“Then don't bring a date,” Jensen said hoping his relief wasn't too obvious. “You have to attend.  All senior staff is attending and I've managed to get a table for the office staff as well. You'll have your choice of where to sit. But you're going to be there, Jared.”

“Okay,” Jared said quietly.

Jensen smiled and handed him a business card. “Good. Here's the name of the tailor I use.  You don't have to use him, but he does great work.”

Still stunned at what was happening to him, Jared replied, “I don't know what to say.”

“You don't have to say anything, I'm just grateful you decided to work for me.” Jensen stood and walked Jared to the door, pausing to drink in one more look. “Working outside agrees with you, Jared. You look good with a tan.”

Jared blushed. “Thanks, and uh, thanks for the bonus.”

Jensen waved off the gratitude. “You earned it.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

The hospital benefit was filled with hospital staff, the city's officials, wealthy donors, and employees of ADA.  Even though everyone was dressed in their best, Jared could not take his eyes off Jensen.  In his dark tailored suit, his boss looked like a Hollywood movie star, not the owner of a construction company.  Jared wanted to slip his hands under Jensen’s suit coat, skim his fingers over Jensen’s chest, and slide the coat off his shoulders and...Jared closed his eyes. This wasn’t the time for a fantasy about getting his boss naked.

It wasn’t the place for that fantasy either, because staring at Jensen meant Jared was forced to see him with his gorgeous blond date.  Seeing how at ease they were with each other, turned Jared's stomach.  She smiled and laughed and nodded politely as Jensen introduced her to some of the other guests.  They looked so perfect together Jared hated her instantly, then felt like an idiot for feeling that way.

 

 

After dinner a silent auction began to raise funds for the hospital addition.  Jared couldn't afford any of the lavish prizes but he liked checking them out and seeing what others bid. He heard Jensen say, “Fine, alright, I'll bid.”   

Jared glanced over and watched Jensen's date clap her hands gleefully and say, “Yay!”  When Jensen rolled his eyes, so did Jared thinking that Jensen could do much better.

A moment later, Jensen was dropping off his bid and talking to a city councilman and Jared found Jensen's abandoned date standing next to him. “Hi, you must be Jared,” she said with an enthusiastic smile.

“Excuse me?”

“You're Jared, right? I mean Jensen talks about you all the time and well, I know pretty much everyone else.” She smiled expectantly at Jared but he only stared at her in confusion which made her giggle. She covered her mouth with her hand as she laughed and said, “I'm sorry. I just assumed.” She shook her head at herself. “I'm Kenzie.” She held out her hand to shake his and blinded him with her friendly smile. “Nice to finally meet you.”

“You, too. I'm Jared, but you knew that,” he replied coloring as his faux paus.

Kenzie laughed again and put her hand on Jared's arm.  “Come see what I made Jensen bid on.”  He followed her to a small display.

“Hot air balloon ride?” Jared was shocked.  That didn't sound like Jensen at all.

“Right? It's a riot. Don't tell him, but I bid on those new golf clubs for him.”  She pointed at the display of shiny new expensive looking clubs.  “Hopefully that'll be enough to entice him to take an afternoon off.”

Jared tried not to appear disgusted at the idea of her and Jensen spending the afternoon golfing. “Yeah, maybe.”

“Of course, I want that spa weekend for two,” she said making Jared wonder how to make her death look accidental.

 

Suddenly Kenzie gasped. “Did you see the treatment Jensen did of your design?”  Jared's confused expression was enough of an answer for her and she grabbed his hand.  “Come with me.  You have to see this.”

She led Jared to the vestibule and there on an easel, as the center of attraction,  was an artist's concept of his addition. It was perfect. It was exactly how Jared had pictured it in his mind. Looking closer, his name was listed as the artist. He looked from the work to Kenzie and back. “I didn't … who did this?”

Kenzie smiled. “Jensen said that you were the actual artist so you should get credit. He simply added some details.”

“Jensen did this?”

“Sure. He made one for you, too,” she paused. “Oh shit, I hope I didn't ruin a surprise. Shit, Jensen's gonna kill me. Let's head back before he notices we've gone.”  Without waiting for Jared, Kenzie turned and headed back into the party.

Jared took one last look at the drawing before joining her.

 

 

The moment they returned, Jensen met them with a scrutinizing glare. “And where did you two disappear to?”

“It's not what it looks like,” Jared replied much too quickly earning a disapproving look from Kenzie.

“I don't see why it's any of your business,” Kenzie answered full of indignation.

Jensen's eyes widened at her tone and he snorted a laugh. “Well if it had been with anybody else, I'd go tell mom and dad you were running off to dark corners with strange men. But since Jared is the only guy I'd ever trust with my baby sister, I'll just hope you didn't scar him.”

Kenzie gasped. “I'll give you a scarring,” she snarled playfully and slapped at Jensen's arm.

Jared stood there blinking as he replayed Jensen's words. Baby Sister? “Oh no, Jensen, it's nothing like that. Your sister just showed me,” he pointed over his shoulder but Kenzie pleaded with him to stop talking.

Jensen looked mildly annoyed. He shook his head at his sister. “Couldn't you have shown him your boobs or something?”

“Jensen!” She swatted his arm again.

Jensen ducked away. “Well, I guess you were going to see it eventually,” he said turning to Jared. “We had one printed for you, too.  I thought you should have a copy of your first major project.”

Jared felt his cheeks warm. “That drawing is much better than what I submitted, Jensen.”

Jensen denied the compliment. “I only added blue sky and a couple of plants. The rest is all you, Jared.”

Mackenzie warmed when she saw how her brother looked at Jared, but then mentally smacked herself for showing Jared the print. It would have been the perfect excuse for her brother to be alone with Jared. Maybe if she fed her brother more alcohol he would have enough liquid courage to act on his feelings.  “I need another drink,” she announced seemingly out of nowhere. “Jared, would you care to join us?”

Jared looked from her to Jensen, pleased to be invited along. “Yeah, sure. Lead the way.”

“Great, now I’ll have two of you to babysit,” Jensen grumbled just loud enough for Jared to hear.

“Hey,” Jared began to rebuke him but then he saw the playful glint in Jensen’s eye. “I’ll have you know my babysitters always loved me.”

“I bet they did,” Jensen said with an expression that made Jared’s stomach swoop and his mouth go dry.  “Nice suit. You look good.”

“Thanks. I went to Philip like you suggested.”

Jensen looked Jared over again, the corner of his mouth curling into a near smile. He turned to the bartender and ordered a seven and seven for himself and a chablis for his sister.  “Jared, what would you like?”

_You._ “Uh, I guess I’ll have what you’re having,” Jared said making Mackenzie giggle to herself.

 

 

As soon as they acquired their drinks, Mackenzie’s plan fell apart. Jensen was torn away by two contractors that desperately needed to talk to him.

Mackenzie made a face. “Can’t they give him a break? This isn’t the place to talk about work.”

Jared noticed the many people in their industry around the room. “It kind of is, Kenzie. It’s always about networking and who you know when you want to get stuff done or something built.”

Jensen’s sister groaned. “Yuck. You sound exactly like Jensen. No wonder he likes you so much.”

Her words made Jared giddy, but he hid his pleased smile behind his drink. He glanced at Jensen in time to catch him looking back. Their gazes locked for a moment before Jensen was drawn back to the conversation around him.  

“You’re right,” Jared said turning to Mackenzie. “He does work too much.”

“I know! It’s hopeless. I…” she paused as a man across the room stole her attention. “Oh my gosh, Jared,” she drew close enough to whisper. “Do you see that guy over there. The one standing by the fruit platter, by himself?” Her voice turning conspiratorial.

Jared subtly looked around and kept his voice quiet. “Yeah, what about him?”

“He and Jensen used to date.” She paused, letting Jared absorb that information. “It was ages ago and they only had two or three dates so it wasn’t anything serious, but I think that’s him. Mike something? I don’t remember.”

Jared glanced nonchalantly at the other man. He knew some of the women Jensen had dated, but Jensen dating men was new information. A glimmer of possibility grew in him. Maybe he did have a slight chance with Jensen. “So, uh, why did they break up?”  Jared groaned to himself the moment he asked. He sounded like a kid with a crush.

Mackenzie shrugged. “They had nothing in common. And the guy thought he was god’s gift to mankind. You know Jensen hates people like that.”

Before Jared learned anything more, Jensen rejoined them. “Hey, sorry about that.”

“It’s okay, Jensen,” Jared said hoping he didn’t appear too elated for having Jensen rejoin them.

“Yeah, Jen, it’s okay. I was just telling Jared about Mike,” Mackenzie replied innocently.

Jensen made a face. “Why would you bring up that asshat?”

“Because I thought I saw him over by the food.”

“Figures,” Jensen said nodding. “He’s probably telling everyone the nutritional content of the food and then how long it will take them to burn off the calories in the food they’ve chosen.”

“He could be switching out the real food for tofu,” Mackenzie suggested with a giggle, earning a glare from her brother which quickly turned into a quiet laugh.

Jared looked from brother to sister and back. “What am I missing here?”

“Worst date ever,” Jensen began. “Long story short. What he told me was a burger turned out to be tofu and I puked.”  

Jared gasped then pressed his lips together to stifle a surprised laugh.

“Yep, right there on his patio, maybe even on his shoes, I don’t remember. I’ve blocked it out.” Anything else Jensen was going to share would have to wait because Jared suddenly found himself flanked by Jensen’s parents.

“Jared, how nice to see you. I’m so glad you made it!” Jensen’s mom gushed sounding like she had just the right amount of wine. “You look so nice. Is that a new suit?”

Jared turned beet red. “Yes, ma’am. It’s nice to see you, too.”

“Jensen, Mackenzie, doesn’t Jared look nice?”

Mackenzie turned away to allow herself laugh freely, but Jensen tried to contain his amusement and said, “Yes, Mom. Jared is very handsome in his new suit.”

If a deeper shade of red was possible, Jared achieved it.

Alan Ackles put an arm around his wife and said, “Stop flirting with the young man, Donna. You know how that makes me jealous.” He winked at Jared.

“I’m not. Jared, I,” she stammered then gave her husband a jab with her elbow. “Stop teasing me.” She subtly shifted and changed from embarrassed to composed instantly.  “Did you boys bid on anything?”  she asked effectively changing the subject.

“Silent auction, Mom,” Jensen admonished her playfully. “You’ll just have to wait.”

 

 

When the golf clubs went to a doctor, Mackenzie swore under her breath. When the hot air balloon ride went to a young couple, Jensen sighed in relief. Mackenzie let out a surprised gasp, when her mother won the spa weekend. “Don’t worry, sweetheart,” her father whispered as Donna left to sign for the prize. “You’re the one going with her, not me.”

Jensen won dinner for two at the best restaurant in the city. When he returned with the envelope, he handed it to Jared and grinned. “This is for you, man. Thank you for making this all happen.”

Jared gaped in awe at the envelope in his hands. “Jensen, I can’t accept this. It’s too much. And you already gave me a bonus.”

“That was from the company. This was from me.  I wanted you to know how much I appreciated your hard work.”  

Jared looked up from the gift into Jensen’s eyes but didn’t understand the nervousness behind the smile.  “Thanks, Jensen. I don’t know what to say.”

Their moment was interrupted by the arrival of Richard Speight with his arm around Genevieve. “Hey, guys, we’re all going to the Rusty Bucket after this. Care to join us?”

“Yeah, sure. Sounds fun.” Jared’s enthusiasm from the gift and the time spent with Jensen made him sound more than eager to accompany them.

Jensen’s expression had changed when Jared turned back to him. “Go on, Jared, have a good time.”

“You’re not coming?”

“Nah, I’m going to spend quality time with my sister before she goes back to school.” He patted Jared’s shoulder as he left to join Mackenzie and his parents.

 

* * *

 

 

Once back in Jensen’s apartment, the Ackles siblings fell into their tradition of cuddling on the couch in their pajamas and falling asleep to Disney movies.  Mackenzie’s head fell on her brother’s chest and Jensen wrapped an arm around her.

“Sorry I showed Jared the print. You should have done that,” Mackenzie said quietly.

Jensen kissed the top of her head. “Doesn’t matter. He should have seen it when he walked in.”

As Sebastian began to sing “Kiss the Girl”, Mackenzie said, “He likes you, you know.”

“Who likes me?”

Mackenzie yawned. “Jared.”

“Of course he likes me, I’m charming.”

“I’m serious.” Mackenzie poked him making him squirm. “You should ask him out.”

“I’ll get right on that,” Jensen yawned. “First day off I get, I’ll ask out Mr. Padalecki.”  His eyes fell shut and he was asleep before the eels tipped Ariel’s boat.

 

* * *

 

**One year later**

Jared rapped his knuckles on the door jamb before walking into Jensen's office.

Jensen looked up from his monitor and his face brightened. “Hey, Jared, what can I do for you?”  With a nod to the empty chair he invited Jared to sit.

Again Jared kept the _Marry me_ to himself and instead said, “Well, it's Friday. It's four fifty-nine and I want you to quit analyzing the budget and go with me to the Dew Drop for happy hour.”

Much to Jared's delight, Jensen stopped working and studied him with wide eyes for a minute. “Oh, uh, I, --”

“Everyone is going,” Jared replied, having anticipated Jensen's question. “Well, Eric isn't but that's because he just had a baby so he has to get home and give his wife a break.”

His answer had the wrong effect on Jensen. He watched the man shut down and return to studying the budget. “I don't think so Jared. No one will be comfortable with the boss around.”

“Nonsense. The crew made a point to invite me and Mark. And I --”

“Kinda proves my point, Jared. They _invited_ you --”

“And I was told to invite you.”

Jensen grimaced. “Thank you just the same, but I'm going to say no.” Then he stood up and pulled his wallet from his pocket. “Here,” he said handing Jared some cash. “Go have fun. The first round's on me.”

Jared refused it. “I don't want your money, Jensen. I want you to come out and have a good time. Relax and stop working for a change.”

Jensen looked away from Jared's pleading eyes. “Take the money, Jared. And if anyone has too much to drink, call me. I'll make sure they get home okay.”

  
  


"I thought if you asked he'd join us for sure," Mark said as he distributed the drink orders.

Jared shrugged, wondering what Richard meant by his words. "No such luck. Has he ever joined you guys for happy hour?"

Mark, Richard and Rob exchanged looks. "Since he took over? Once maybe," Rob replied.

"There was that time after we won the softball tournament," Richard pointed out.

"Yeah, but Jensen wasn't running things then," Mark clarified. "What reason did he give you for not joining us?"

Jared shrugged again. He felt like he was betraying Jensen even though he wasn't. "He said that no one really feels comfortable around the boss."

The others nodded in understanding. “He was one of the guys before he became the boss,” Richard said.  “I mean I know he's the guy that signs my check but he's still the guy the we used to hang with.”

“That man needs to get laid.” They turned to Danneel in mild surprise and amusement.  “What? You're all thinking it. And believe me, as his assistant, I can tell you we'd all benefit from a more relaxed Jensen.”

“So what's stopping you? Ask him out. Save him from himself,” Richard asked.

“Oh no. I've got a boyfriend, thank you very much. But is Jensen even straight? Is he gay? I mean, he's never even mentioned dating anyone.” Danneel looked from one man to the next.

Mark turned to Jared. “Jared?”

“What? How would I know?”

“You worked with him the longest and the closest. Did he ever give any inclination as to his sexual preferences?” Mark asked.

“You've all known him longer than me. Shouldn't you know?” Jared pointed out.

“I think he went out with Eric's friend Jeff a couple years ago,” Rob began. “But I seem to remember him dating a Jessica for a while.”

"Maybe we should just sign him up for tinder and grindr and let the internet get him laid," Felicia said without looking up from her phone.

“Right and think how freaked out he'd be getting messages from complete strangers. I can't see Jensen using either one of those,” Jared said suddenly wishing he could check grindr. What if Jensen was on grindr... he could send Jensen a picture, see if he was interested in a hook up and then... Jared's mind began to drift to x-rated territory.

“Jared would help, wouldn't you?” Richard clapped a hand on Jared's shoulder jolting him back to the conversation.

Jared noticed everyone was expecting him to answer. “What are we talking about?”

Felicia and Danneel groaned and rolled their eyes. “Jared, we're finding Jensen a date,” Genevieve explained.

“We're signing him up on FindMeLove.com but we'll be the ones selecting his dates,” Danneel continued.

“Why would we do that?”

“Because we all agree that he needs a life outside the office,” Felicia replied.

Jared nodded. “Right, I got that, but why are we selecting the dates, why not let Jensen do it?”

“Because he won't,” Richard said. “He'll blow it off and never engage because he'll never stop working long enough to reply to anyone.”

“I don't know guys. I think this is a bad idea. People's feelings are bound to get hurt.”  Jared looked from one girl to the next.  “What makes you think Jensen will stop being a workaholic and go on a date?”

"Maybe we need to do an intervention." Genevieve suggested.  “Just like with an alcoholic, we confront him with our feelings about how much he works and then suggest that he goes on a date with one of the people we choose from FindMeLove.”

“Yes!” Danneel slapped her hand on the table. “An intervention. Because if he works another Sunday, I'm gonna lose my shit.”

Jared turned to her in surprise. “He's working Sundays now?”

“Three of the them in the past two months, Jared. He's there seven days a week. I mean I know he's supporting his parents and his siblings, but he's got to stop and take care of himself. He's gonna burn out.”

“Okay, yeah, the guy needs to take a break, but when are we going to hold this intervention and make a dating profile?” Richard asked.

“My place tomorrow afternoon for the profile building and date search.  The sooner we start the better. We need to background check everyone we consider setting up with Jensen.  We're looking for relationship material, not one night stands.” Everyone looked at her in mild shock, making Felicia roll her eyes. “Look, yes, I know we said he needs to get laid, but we want more for him than that, don't we?”

The others nodded. “Is there a way we can get rid of all of his family obligations?” Genevieve asked. “I mean why is he supporting all of them?”

“It was his parents' business,” Richard explained. “Jensen is basically their retirement plan.”

“ADA has been much more profitable with him running things,” Mark pointed out.

Jared spoke up. “His sister is still in school, so obviously Jensen's going to support her.”

“Well, yeah,” Richard said. “But she's in her sixth year and on her fifth course of study.  She could use a dose of reality.”

“And what about his brother? Why is he supporting that guy?” Genevieve practically demanded.

The others exchanged looks and then shrugged.

“Yeah, Josh is a bit of a screw up, but what's Jensen supposed to do? Let the guy become homeless?  If Jensen doesn't support him, Josh'll just go to his parents for a handout,” Rob said and the others nodded in agreement.

“Well how is he ever going to learn if he's not allowed to fail?” Gen asked.

“Look, we can't solve all the Ackles family problems. Let's just focus on Jensen.”  Danneel grinned mischievously as an idea formed. “I'll add the intervention to the agenda for Monday's staff meeting. I'll tell Jensen I have an idea for morale building and he'll approve it.”

 

 

At nine o'clock Jensen checked his phone one last time. Neither Jared nor anyone else had called for a ride home so he hoped his people were safe.  He debated calling Jared or Danneel and making sure everyone was okay, but decided against it.  Danneel already thought he micromanaged everything. She'd never let him hear the end of it if he called.  

He purposely avoided the Dew Drop on his way home.  If his staff was still there he didn't want them to see him drive by and think he was checking up on them.  It meant going out of his way, but only ten minutes or so.

Finally at home for the night, Jensen toed off his shoes, heated a frozen dinner and collapsed on his couch with a beer to watch Property Brothers.

However, his mind wandered to thoughts of Jared. Jensen wondered what his night would have been like if Jared had asked him out instead of asking him to join their group. He missed Jared. He missed Jared’s sense of humor, he missed how capable Jared was at anticipating his every need, he missed the way Jared’s shirts stretched across his shoulders… And finally Jensen realized that he had probably missed any chance he had with Jared. They rarely saw each other, and then it was only in staff meetings.

He should have done something at the benefit last year. Guys like Jared don’t stay single. Jensen consoled himself with the fact that he was too busy for a relationship. No one would put up with someone who worked as much as he did. Not surprisingly, that didn’t make him feel any better.

 

* * *

 

As he drove to Felicia's house on Saturday, Jared drove by the office and was disappointed, but not surprised, to see Jensen's car in the lot.

 

“Jensen's at the office right now,” Jared said as he joined the others in Felicia's kitchen.

“Yeah, Jared, it's Saturday. He's there every Saturday,” Danneel pointed out with an expression that said 'that's why we're doing this'.

 

They spent an hour perfecting Jensen's profile, Jared providing them with information when the others had no idea. For example, according to Jared, Jensen was a romantic who enjoyed music festivals and sporting events. With a look of doubt Felicia asked, “Jensen goes to music festivals?”

“And how does that make him a romantic?” Genevieve asked

“He keeps the ticket stubs or wrist bands, I've seen them,” Jared explained. The women exchanged looks and shrugged.

“Oh crap, a picture,” Felicia groaned. “We need a picture to post.”

“We could use his I.D. picture from work,” Genevieve suggested but the collective “ew no!” from the room meant that wasn't an option.

“Wait!” Jared pulled his phone from his pocket. “I've got some from the hospital benefit. I think there could be one we could use.”

Danneel studied him, her brows raised in suspicion. “Why do you have pictures of Jensen on your phone?”

“Because it was the hospital benefit and,” he paused when he saw the look on her face and scowled. “Shut up. I have pictures of all of us that were there that night.”  He scrolled through them and sent two pictures to Felicia.

“Ooh, these are nice, Jared. This one will be perfect.” Felicia copied and pasted and posted the profile. “Now all we have to do is weed through the people who respond and choose the best ones.”

“How long do you think it will take?” Gen asked.

“Like a second,” Danneel replied. “Our boss is hot and we selected bi so that's sure to bring more interest.”

 

* * *

 

On Sunday afternoon Jensen was working out the logistics of operating two construction sites when he heard the door open. He knew it was his brother before the man stepped into his office. No one else would bother Jensen on a Sunday.

Josh reclined in Jensen's office chair with one of his legs over the arm.  “Hey, brother.”

“Josh.”  Jensen set aside the keyboard so he could give his brother his full attention. “What can I do for you today?”

“It's not what you can do for me, it what I can do for you,” Josh replied with a charming grin. He swung his leg off the chair arm and faced his brother. “I've got the investment of a lifetime for you.”

In his attempt to remain calm, Jensen counted to five in his head. He knew he had to act like he was interested or at least listening or his brother would throw a fit.  “Okay, Josh, let's hear it.”

“Well, you know that waterfront property just south of the freeway?”

Jensen nodded. “Yeah.”  Every firm in the city was bidding on that development deal.

“Well I want to develop it.”

“Josh, everyone wants to develop it. We--”

“Exactly! I've got a group that's ready to go, they just need some investors.”

“Josh --”

“Don't shut me down, Jensen. Hear me out, before you get all 'you don't know what you're doing, Josh',” he sneered. “The Amell Group is looking to put condos, a public market and a bar/restaurant right on the waterfront.”  He smiled excitedly at Jensen. “We could get in on the ground floor.  They're looking for investors, Jensen. This could make us a lot of money.”

Jensen bowed his head and sighed. Then he counted to ten. “You're right, Josh, the waterfront development is going to make a lot of money. That's why we're bidding on it.  The Amell Group is our competition. If we invest in them, we're investing against ourselves.” He paused. “You _do_ see how that would be bad for our company, right?”

“Whatever, man. You never think any of my ideas are good.” Josh stood and crossed the room to stare out Jensen's window.

“Josh. Developing the waterfront is a good idea. But, investing with the competition is insane.”

Josh pouted by the window for a minute before returning to his chair. “Fine. I need five thousand dollars.”

“What!? What for?”

“Rent and my car payment.”

“No.”

Josh snorted. “What, are you going to make me live on the street?”

“No, but I already paid you this month.  If you need more, go see Mom and Dad.”

With a groan of frustration, Josh stood up. “You know they're just going to tell you to pay me.”

“Then you'll have to get a job, Josh, because I already paid them for the month, too, so there's nothing left.”

Josh shook his head. “You're running the business into the ground. Ruining everything Dad worked for. And for what? You've got nothing in your life Jensen. You're at the office on a Sunday, for god's sake.” He walked out of the office leaving Jensen with an eye twitch that meant a migraine was soon to follow.

 


	3. Chapter 3

Jensen read and reread the agenda. Staff morale? What was wrong with morale? How could something be bothering his team? They all got along, didn't they? What happened in the last week that caused a problem with his people?

"Danni, can you come in here?"

She smiled at him as she took a seat opposite him. "What's up boss?"

"Can you explain the staff morale issue on the agenda?  I don't want to be blindsided at the meeting. Did something happen I should know about?"

The concern in his voice and expression made Danneel cringe with guilt. “No, Jensen. It’s nothing like that.  We just have an idea we'd like to share with you.”

Jensen narrowed his eyes, still nervous about what the issue could be. “If you guys are unhappy, you can always come to me. I'll do whatever I can to solve it.”

Danneel relaxed thinking they had done the right thing. “I know, I'm counting on it. But Jensen, this is something Felicia, Jared, and I want to present together. Trust me, it's all for the good of ADA.”

“Jared's a part of this, too?”

“Yeah, and so is Genevieve.”

“Genevieve ?” Jensen always considered Genevieve the quiet, mouse type. Not someone who would speak up in front of others at a staff meeting.

  
  


“So, due to the rain, we are behind schedule. But, according to the guy on channel eight we are in for a week of sunshine and blue skies so we should be able to make up the lost time.”  Richard sat down as he finished talking.

Jensen rubbed his forehead and scribbled his last notes.  “So our fate rests with the weather guy on channel eight.” He looked around the table. “All right if by some miracle the weather guy is wrong, what is our backup plan?”

Eric spoke up, “Our team pre-assembled the framing and other large sections in the shop.  Once the weather clears we're going to transport them to the site and put together these larger pieces.”

Jensen nodded. “Good. Okay. That's the last of my concerns. The final item on the agenda is Danneel's.”

Danneel fussed with her paperwork, cleared her throat and then threw desperate looks to Felicia and Genevieve.  While Felicia nodded her encouragement to Danneel, Genevieve took it upon herself to begin. “Jensen, you work too much. You're in here on Saturdays and Sundays and that's not healthy.”

She sounded genuine so Jensen tried to keep his amused smile off his face. “Excuse me, but I'm fine. Occasionally I may come in on weekends, but it's not often. You don't need to worry, Genevieve.”

“You've worked every Saturday since you promoted Jared,” Rob argued. Looking at the others he added, “I checked the security tapes. You've been here every Saturday.”

“And five out of the last seven Sundays,” Danneel added.

Jensen saw the concern on the faces around the room, but couldn't believe he had to defend himself to them. “I work a lot because I want to stay in business, keep everyone employed, and make sure you get a paycheck.” Although he tried to keep it buried, there was a note of resentment in his voice.

“But Jensen,” Danneel added calmly, “it's stressing you and --”

“And it wouldn't be if you let us do our jobs,” Genevieve said forcefully interrupting Danneel and getting everyone to focus on her. “I understand it's your company, but I'm supposed to be doing the accounting and you're doing more than half of it.”

“Yeah. Which leaves very little for me to do,” Felicia added.

“You're IT,” Jensen replied looking slightly confused.

“No, I'm not. You hired me for accounting. I'm supposed to be accounts receivable. But since you do so much of my work and your computers were outdated and the network and phone system were a mess, I started IT for something to do,” Felicia explained.

Jensen thumbed the papers in front of him and took a breath.  _ They mean well.  _  “Okay. I work too much, you all don't work enough and it's my fault. Got it.” He gave them a tight smile. “Anything else?”

Danneel looked worried but Genevieve and Felicia gave her encouraging nods. The guys kept their heads down.

“Yeah, Jensen, um, we did something that we hope will help you see why it's important to have something outside of work,” she paused then the rest of her words came out in a rush. “We signed you up on FindMeLove.com.”

“What?”

“We-”

Jensen held up his hand. He didn't need to hear it again. Feeling a mix of shock and betrayal he looked around the room.  “So what you're saying is I work too much and I need to get a life.” He hung his head hoping to hide his embarrassment and annoyance.

There were murmurs of 'no'.

Mark stood and gathered his things.  “I had nothing to do with this,” he said before turning to address Jensen. “I believe they have a good intentions, but I don't agree with how they want to achieve their goal.”  He crossed the room and put a hand on Jensen's shoulder. “Jensen, work less and the rest will come to you if you want it to.”

When Mark left, Jensen looked up but not at anyone. “Okay. Meeting over. Please get back to whatever it is you do or don't do because I do it.”

The staff hurried from the room. Jared waited, wanting to say something, anything, to get that look off Jensen's face. But Genevieve  grabbed his arm and made him leave. Danneel stayed until Jensen looked at her. “Jensen, it's not like that.”

Jensen nodded. “Go back to work, Danni. I'll be out in a minute.”

Eric Kripke hung back and when the others left he took a seat next to Jensen. “They mean well,” he offered trying to sound believable.

Jensen raised a brow in doubt. “That's what I told myself until they brought up the 'hey boss, why don't you get laid? idea.”

Eric chuckled. “I didn't go to happy hour with them. I heard that's where they dreamed this up. They made you a profile and researched every person that responded to you. They really want to find someone to make you happy.”

“So I should blame it on the alcohol?”

“No, well, maybe a little bit. But blame yourself for working too much.  Your parents have plenty of money in their retirement fund. They don't need Alan's paycheck.”

“But I promised them I'd keep paying them. We have an agreement. Plus they just bought a new Cadillac.”

“If they knew the hours you put in, they wouldn't ask.”

Jensen sighed. He still had responsibilities to his brother and sister and his employees.

“How's Colin?” Jensen asked out of the blue, desperate to get the attention off of him.

Eric smiled affectionately. “My kid's great. He's gonna quarterback for the Cowboys some day. But we're not talking about him. We're talking about you and how you're cutting the purse strings to your brother and Mack.”

“Hey, Mack's still in school. I told her I would support --”

“She's been in school for six years and she still doesn't have a degree. She's just using school as an excuse not to grow up.” Eric put his hand on Jensen's arm and squeezed. “She's a good kid and if you gave her an ultimatum, she'd graduate and get a job.”

They sat quietly for a minute. “Josh came to me over the weekend looking for money to invest in an Amell Brothers project,” Jensen said, lip nearly twitching into a smile.

“No fucking way. I hope you told him to get bent.”

“I had to explain how the Amells are our competition, and how funding them would mean no more money for Josh. I think he understood, but knowing him he went to Amell and told him we were bidding on the same project.”

“Jensen, he's stupid but he's not that stupid, is he?”

“I don't know,” Jensen said in defeat. “I'm not doing this dating thing. I don't care what you say.”

“Well, I’m not saying anything,” he gave Jensen a look, “but a year ago you told me you had a plan...something about once he wasn't your assistant... but I don't see you acting on it.”

Jensen let his head roll back on his neck. Yeah, he once had a plan but life got in the way.

“You've gotta at least look at the people they chose for you.” Eric grinned, jostling Jensen's arm. “Come on. It's gonna be hilarious.”

Jensen nodded. “My life does seem to be the fodder for most of the jokes around here.”

  
  


Jensen stopped in front of Danneel's desk on the way to his office. “Three strikes. Just like baseball.  Choose three people. I’ll go on three dates, but that's the end of it.”

Danneel gasped.

“Well, get this shit together and show me my profile and the lovely contenders you've chosen for me.” Jensen strode into his office and waited to Danneel to join him.

She instantly texted the news to Felicia and Genevieve and tamped down her excited squeal.  Grabbing her tablet, she sprinted into Jensen's office.

 

Her boss appeared unmoved by her excitement. “Alright, first, show me the profile you created.”

He remained expressionless as he read about himself. It wasn't completely accurate, but it wasn't that far from the truth. “Bi?”

Danneel cleared her throat. “We weren't sure. We selected bi hoping to give you a wider choice of men and women. Turns out there are people, gay and straight, that won't date bi people.” She shrugged. “Sorry. Jared said that weeded out some closed minded people.”

Jensen nodded and continued to peruse the respondents to his profile.

“Should I change it?” Danneel asked.

“No, I just didn't remember telling you.” Their choices seemed nice and he noticed that Danneel had interacted with some of them. “All of these people appear decent and mostly normal so pick three and I'll take them to dinner.”

“No,” Danneel said firmly. “Not dinner. You will have coffee or maybe lunch but dinner is a second date.”

Amused, Jensen raised a brow.  “Fine. Lunch it is. Can you set them up for Fridays. And pick a nice place, okay?”

Danneel blinked at him. “That's it? Friday?”

“Yeah,” Jensen smirked. “If the date goes well, I won't come back to the office.” He winked at her and she began to grin. “Oh, make it any two women and that one tall guy wearing the Longhorns shirt.”

Danneel's smile was radiant. “I'm on it, boss.”

 

Back at her desk Danneel texted Genevieve, Jared and Felicia, inviting them to an emergency meeting after work. They had to pick the dates and choose the location and get everything ready for that Friday.

 

The girls giggled as they reviewed the profiles, but Jared stewed.  He was jealous and frustrated and scared. He wanted Jensen to be happy, at least that's what he told himself. But the more he looked at the profile of the 'tall guy in the Longhorn shirt' the more jealous he became.

* * *

 

The lovely Sophia was his first date. Jensen liked her right away. She had a good sense of humor and was as sarcastic as he was.  However, when he was completely honest with her regarding how their date came to be, she felt insulted and left.

The second date was with Scott. Scott was tall and muscular and all Jensen could think of while they ate was if Scott was proportional and whether the guy could lift him. He was fantasizing about wrapping his legs around Scott as the guy fucked him into the wall when Scott's cell phone rang. Emergency at work, he was needed immediately. Jensen recognized the classic 'save' and smiled and nodded as the guy apologized and left.

Though his workaholic soul gnawed at him, Jensen decided to stay out of the office for the rest of the afternoon, knowing Danneel and the others would go insane.

 

 

At the work site, Jared eagerly waited for a text from Danneel to tell him about the date. At four o'clock a text finally arrived.   **_OMG HE'S NOT BACK YET!_ **

He read the message a dozen more times and each time his heart beat faster.  _ No, no, no, no, no. Jensen did not go home with that guy _ . Jared broke out in a sweat thinking about it. Was that it? Had he waited too long?

The next day, Saturday, Jared concocted an excuse to go the office. He hoped, prayed, that Jensen would be there like he had been every other Saturday. And he trusted Jensen wouldn't be able to see through his charade.

 

 

Jensen groaned when he heard the office door open. He braced himself for another visit from his brother when he was pleasantly surprised to see Jared peeking his head through the door. “Hey Jared! Come on in, man.”

Jared swallowed his disappointment at Jensen's apparent cheerfulness. “Hey. You're in a good mood. I guess the date went well.”

Jensen set aside his papers and laughed. “Oh yeah, it went really well.”

Jensen's sarcasm lifted Jared's anxiety and he relaxed into Jensen's office chair. “What happened?”

“He did the 'emergency phone call' and left halfway through our meal.”

“Yeowch! Sorry man” Jared cringed. “So why didn’t you come back to the office?”

Jensen smirked. “I knew it would turn Danneel and the rest of you into gossiping hens if I stayed away.”

“Hey! I did not turn into a gossiping hen,” Jared argued acting quite affronted.

Jensen raised a brow in doubt. “Really? Then what are you doing here if you're not checking up on me?”

Fighting the color rising in his cheeks Jared replied, “Genevieve  told me I was filling out my expense reports the wrong way and made me redo them.”

“Yeah,” Jensen nodded in amusement.  “You always use the DS2 instead of the CS form.”

“Why didn't you ever tell me?”

“It wasn't a big deal to me. Once I figured out what you did, I just copied it on to the correct form.”

“You should have told me.  It's embarrassing getting yelled at by a girl half my size.”

“Sorry. I guess I never thought anyone else would be checking expense reports.”

“Why are you here on a Saturday?  I thought with Felicia and Genevieve doing their actual jobs you would have more free time.” 

Jared’s sincere concern tugged at Jensen. “I took half a day off yesterday. I've got to catch up.  Especially because Danneel has more dates lined up for me.”

Jared's nerves returned. “Oh, good. You should date more. You deserve to be happy.”

* * *

 

Danneel smiled expectantly at Jensen when he arrived at the office Monday.

“Good morning, Danneel.” Jensen pretended not to notice her watching him.

“How  _ good _ is it?” Her knowing smirk making her look like she knew more than she did.

Jensen stopped and looked around the office. “It's a Monday so... Do you have anything you're adding to agenda for the staff meeting? Or will I escape with my dignity intact?”

“I have nothing to add. However, I'm sure the staff would like an update on how the date went. Like was the guy Mr. Right or Mr. Right Now?”

Jensen snorted a laugh. “He was Mr. Fake Emergency at Work and leave early.”

Danneel's mouth fell open in shock before setting in an angry scowl. “What an asshole.  I'm leaving a scathing comment.”   She turned to her computer but Jensen stopped her.

“Don't bother. It's okay that I'm not his type. Just line up number three so I can get this ordeal over with.”  He walked into his office but Danneel was right on his heels.

“Jensen, this is supposed to be fun, not an ordeal. I'm sorry the first two dates didn't work out, but keep an open mind. You want to find someone, don't you?  You don't want to live the rest of your life married to your desk.”

Jensen sighed.  “I'll keep an open mind but tell this next person everything so that they don't react like Sophia.”

“Okay. Would lunch tomorrow work?  I don't have anything on your schedule after eleven.”

He nodded.  “Sure. Just make it someplace close by.”

* * *

 

When Jensen saw who was waiting for him the next day,  he broke into a bright laugh.  “Kristen?”

She was tiny, but with her hands on her hips and a mock angry scowl, she looked fierce. “Jensen Ackles get your ass over here and buy me lunch.”

He kissed her cheek and they hugged tightly. “You look amazing,” Kristen whispered as they embraced.

“Me? I don't think so. You, you look incredible. You're gorgeous.” Jensen held out her chair for her.

“Flattery will get you everywhere,” she teased. “Now sit down and tell me everything. How in the world did your assistant get you on a dating site?”

Jensen rolled his eyes and told her about the intervention his employees had for him. When he finished, Kristen stared at him for several long moments. “You work on your weekends?!”

“Not every weekend,” Jensen began to argue. “But wait, what are you doing on a dating site? I thought --”

“Yeah, didn't work out. Divorced for about three months now.”

“Sorry, Kirsten, that sucks.”

She shook her head at his sympathy. “No, it doesn't.  We weren't good for each other.  We ‘looked good’, but we were toxic.” She blinked away the tears she was tired of crying. “I'm not going to let it get me down about love. I love love.” She smiled, burying the lingering pain.  “Let's focus on you and your love life.  I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw your profile. But the second you didn't respond to my wink, I knew it wasn't really you.”

Ducking his head and rubbing the back of his neck, Jensen groaned to himself in embarrassment. “The group from work wrote my profile and choose who I date. I told them they get three strikes to get it right.”  He paused and a smile crept across his face. “You're number three.”

“Oh no,” Kristen said pointing an accusatory finger at him. “I'm a foul ball, a wild pitch, you can't count me as a date. But you have to tell me about the other two.”

“Well date number one went well until she found out my staff was running my account.  Date number two... I wasn't his type and he left with the fake emergency phone call.  But with you being date number three, I think the universe is trying to tell me that online dating is not for me.”

Kristen narrowed her eyes in contemplation.  “Maybe. Or maybe the universe is telling you to get involved yourself and not leave the choice to your staff.”  Jensen shrugged at that. “Well what did you like about the first one?”

Jensen sat back and analyzed Sophia.  “She was smart. She knew a bunch of random things, so we could talk for hours. She had a great sense of humor, sarcastic as all hell, and a great laugh.  She was beautiful, and I mean more than her appearance. She had something about her that made me want to know her.”

“Hmm. And the guy?”

Jensen smirked.  “He was hot and looked like he could fuck for hours.” Kristen laughed at his honesty. “Yeah, I know. I’m totally shallow.”

Kristen had to cover her mouth to keep from spitting her drink all over their table.  After regaining control of her giggles, Kristen asked, “So your ideal person would put all of that together.”

Jensen stilled as an image of Jared entered his mind. His smile faded. A relationship with Jared was unlikely.

“What was that look?”

Jensen blinked at her.  “What look?”

Kristen narrowed her eyes again. “Is there someone you want to be dating?

“No.” Jensen shook his head, then nodded. “Yes, but he, well, he doesn't want to date me.”

“How do you know? Did you ask him? Maybe--”

“He was one of the people behind the online dating idea. If he wanted to be with me, he wouldn't be setting me up with other people.”

“Oh.”  Kristen slumped feeling as defeated as Jensen. “So he works for you?”

“Yeah, but only because I own the company.  He's in another division now, but he used to be my assistant.”  Jensen's cheeks warmed. “I know, just like how my dad met my mom, I'm completely lame like that.”

“It's not lame, it's sweet. It's too bad that he doesn't feel the same.”

They were quiet for a moment, then Kristen pulled out her phone.  “We should find you a real third date.  Maybe if I help you you'll have better luck.”

Jensen shook his head. “We can't. I don't know how to log into my account. Danni set up everything.”

“So call her and get your login information.”  Kristen waited for him to comply. “Or I could go back to your office with you and Danni can give us your login information.  You really should be looking at the people yourself.”

“I was only doing this to get my staff off my back. I don't really care.”

Kristen put down her phone and focused on him. “You don't care? What do you mean you don't you care?  Don't you want to be with someone?”

Jensen shrugged.  “I don't have time for a relationship.”

“Didn’t your staff take care of that with the intervention? Aren't they doing more?”  Jensen nodded reluctantly.  “Doesn't that mean you have more time for yourself?”  

“Fine,” Jensen conceded her point.  “We’ll go to my office. I have a feeling this might take a while.”

 

 

Once Danneel logged into the site, Kristen and Jensen read and laughed over several profiles.  If they liked one, Kristen would share the profile with Danneel who would run Felicia's background check on the person.  

Jared stopped by to submit his final draft of a bid when he heard laughter coming from Jensen's office. He raised an eyebrow at Danneel to ask what was happening.

“Date number three was with Jensen's high school sweetheart,” Danneel replied with an eye roll.

Her words sent a twinge of anxiety through Jared. Was Jensen rekindling an old flame?

“Kristen claims she doesn't count as a date. She and Jensen are going over his dating profile, and choosing his next date.”

“So they're not...”

Danneel shrugged. “Guess they're just friends.”

“Does he have time to check my proposal? Or should I bring it back another time?”

“Go on in. Knowing Jensen, he'll probably be glad for the break.” 

Jared knocked on the door jamb.  “Hey, I'm sorry for interrupting, but I have the bid for botanical gardens.”

Kristen and Jensen looked up and, for a moment, Jensen froze.  Then he coughed, “Oh hey, Jared. Come on in. This is Kristen.”

Kristen smiled warmly at him as she stood to greet him. She held out her hand to shake Jared's. “Nice to meet you, Jared.”

“You, too,” he replied, shaking her hand and giving her a friendly smile. “Danneel said you two were highschool sweethearts.”

Kristen looked up at Jensen. “Something like that.”

He turned to Jensen. “I've got the bid for the gardens.”

“Oh, right, right. I'll take a look at it.” Jensen wiped his hands on his thighs, nervously ran a hand through his hair and accepted the folder. “Yeah, uh, Kristen was just helping me line up my next date.”

Jensen’s nervous behavior intrigued and amused Kristen. Hoping to encourage a spark of jealousy she grabbed the laptop and turned it to Jared.  “His name is Matt and they're having lunch Thursday.  What do you think?”

Jared looked from the screen to the couple before him. “Uh, I'm glad you found someone, I guess.”

* * *

 

On Thursday afternoon Jared waited patiently for Danneel's update about Jensen's date.  When she hadn't texted by three, Jared called her.  “How was Jensen's lunch date?”

Danneel sighed. “Jensen had to cancel.  Councilman Omundson wanted to review the riverside development. Jensen rescheduled the date for drinks tomorrow night.”

_ Not if I can help it _ , Jared thought.

 


	4. Chapter 4

Jared spotted Jensen immediately. He was sitting by himself at a high top table facing the door.  He must have noticed Jared enter because he slouched like he didn't want to be seen.  Jared took a breath and reviewed the bullet points of the pep talk he gave himself earlier. He had nothing to lose and Jensen to gain, so however uncomfortable it might be, it would be worth it.

He cautiously approached Jensen's table. “Jensen?”

Jensen looked up from the glass he was holding and gave Jared a nervous smile. “Hey Jared, how's it going?”

Jensen's casual question eased Jared's nerves. “Good. Everything's going good. How are things with you?”

“Same old same old, I guess. Nice work on the bid for the botanical gardens. Eric wants to make minor changes to the schedule.”  His eyes darted to the door briefly as he spoke.

Jared nodded.  “Yeah, I figured he would. I'm not that good at anticipating delays. He has much more experience with that.”

Jensen glanced at the door again and then asked, “How's your sister? Is she still working on that book?”

The waitress interrupted them for their drink order and again Jared noticed Jensen checking the door and his watch.  “I'll have another one of these,” he said holding up his glass. “Jared?”

“Coors Light, tap.”

When the waitress left Jensen brought them back to the conversation. “So your sister?”

“Yeah, she's still plugging away.  She's sent a copy to a couple editors or publishers, I'm sure she'll hear something soon.” The waitress returned with their drinks and Jensen handed her some cash. “How's everything in the office working out?”

Jensen smiled. “Gen and Felicia are excellent at keeping the books, but Danni still refuses to make coffee, but other than that she's a great assistant.”

“Not as good as me, though, right?” Jared teased.

“Of course not,” Jensen smiled. “No one could be as good as you were.”  He seemed pleased to have made Jared smile.  “She keeps trying to make me drink that green chai stuff instead of my coffee. Yesterday, she got me a green smoothie for lunch. The smell of it made me want to puke.”

Jared laughed. “Really?”

“Yeah. So I ordered a bacon double cheeseburger from Toppers and had them deliver it.”

Jared laughed harder which made Jensen glow. However, Jensen checked his phone and glanced at the door again and his expression dimmed.  He pushed himself back from the table. “Well, Jared, it's been nice catching up with you, but I'm going to get going and you can get back to your friends.”

“What? No. Don't go. Why are you going?”

He was unwilling to answer for a moment.  Then he sighed and mumbled, “This is embarrassing.” Blushing, he added,  “I've been stood up.” He shook his head at himself.  “I don't want to waste on any more of your time.”

“No. Jensen, I --”

“Jared, don't worry. You didn't scare anyone off. No one has come in alone since you got here.” He stood. “Have a good night.”

Jared grabbed Jensen's arm. “No, Jensen. It's me. I'm the date. I canceled Matt.”

Jensen looked at him in disbelief before his expression morphed into something Jared didn't recognize. “You canceled Matt. Perfect. Thanks for telling me.” He yanked his arm free. “Good night, Jared.”

Jared followed after him, choosing to wait until they were outside to confront Jensen. “Jensen, please let me explain.”

Jared couldn't miss the disappointment in Jensen's eyes when the man finally turned and looked at him. “There’s no need to explain. I know my life's the office joke.” He turned to walk to his car.

Jared stepped in front of Jensen and blocked his path. “No. It's not like that. Please.” Jensen stopped walking and looked up at him which was enough for Jared to take his chance. “I like you. I’ve liked you for a long time. I like how you care about everyone who works for you. I like how you remember little details about people but they're enough to make that person feel special. I like how you push people to be their best. I like how you look when you fall asleep at your desk and wake up all disoriented.”

Jensen was unconvinced. “If that’s really how you feel, why did you help the others put me on that website?”

“Because they’re right. You work too much. And you deserve to be happy, Jensen.” 

Jensen huffed. “I  _ am  _ happy. I like what I do. Okay, yeah,” he conceded, “it would be nice to …” he trailed off. A wave of bitterness washed over him as he looked up at Jared. “Yes, I want someone in my life but not because they’re sorry for me. If you found out Matt cancelled and you’re just trying to spare my feelings, don’t.”  

“Jensen, that’s not why I’m here,” Jared said insistently. “I  _ want  _ to be with you. I loved being your assistant because I got to be with you every day. I had such a crush on you. It's cliché and a little pathetic but true.  But if I stayed your assistant you'd never go out with me. I worked my ass off on that hospital proposal because I wanted you to be proud of me.” Jared sighed. “I hoped that with the promotion I would be worthy of you.”

“Worthy?” Jensen repeated as if he didn't understand it's meaning.

“Yeah. But now you're going on all these blind dates and I panicked. What if you meet someone before I'm ready, before I can ask you out?” Jared pleaded with him. “Don't you see? I had to poach this date tonight or I might never get a chance. Jensen, give me a chance to show you that I can be the guy you want.  I can be the guy that makes you happy.”

Time froze as Jensen stared at him, taking in everything Jared said. Slowly he shook his head in disbelief. “Jared, you've always been the guy I want.” His expression brightened and his ill feelings evaporated. “That's why I fired you, I couldn't date you when you were my assistant. But my plan backfired because we both got so busy I hardly ever saw you.”

Jared stared in wide eyed shock and swallowed dryly. “So... would you have dinner with me?”

Jensen smiled a little wider. “I'd love to have dinner with you.”

Jared's face lit up like sunshine and he grabbed Jensen's hand. “Great! There's an Italian place right around the corner and don't worry about garlic breath, cuz I'm gunna kiss you anyways.”

“Oh you are?” Jensen chuckled and let Jared lead him by the hand.

“Yeah. Probably for hours.”

Jensen chuckled. “Glad to see you have the evening planned out.”

“I have many evenings planned out.”

Jensen looked at him with a cocked eyebrow.

Jared squeezed his hand. “I will tell you every intimate detail of my plans later.”

“Are we acting on these plans or just talking about them?”

Jared thought about all the millions of fantasies he had of Jensen. “Well, I should warn you, most of them are x rated at the very least.”

“Then we will definitely need to act on them.”

* * *

 

Jensen spent most of the dinner smiling as he listened to Jared's stories of growing up and of college and of working at the various building sites.  He thought he must look like an idiot the way he was grinning at Jared, but he was so happy that they were finally on a date,  he didn't let it bother him.  

Jared was in the middle of a story when Pearl Jam's  _ Brother  _ rang from Jensen's pocket.  He retrieved his phone, muttered, “Crap,” and tapped ignore. Josh wasn't interrupting this night.  “Sorry, excuse me. Then what happened?”  He asked, hoping to get Jared back to his story.

“Josh?”  Jared wrinkled his nose in distaste. Jensen rolled his eyes. Jared paused, but continued his story. 

Jensen wiped tears of laughter when Jared finished.  “God, I've missed you,” he sighed once he caught his breath.  “Danneel has never made me laugh the way you do.”

Jared was pleased at Jensen's words, he didn't want anyone else to put that smile on Jensen's face. The server had just placed the check on the table and Jared snagged the folder from under Jensen's fingers. “No, you don't. This is on me. I asked, I chose the restaurant, I pay,” he insisted.

Jensen opened his mouth to argue but Katrina and the Waves began to sing from his phone. Mackenzie? She never called on a Friday night.  He fumbled for his phone and apologized to Jared. “Hey Mack, what's up?”

“It's Dad,” she replied, her voice tremulous with worry.

“What happened?”  Jared and the restaurant fell away as Jensen struggled to listen to his baby sister over her tears. He heard the words Josh, accident, heart attack and wreck and Mom. “Mack, slow down. What did Josh say? What hospital?”

“City Center.”

“I'll be right there.  I'll call you when I find out anything.”  Jensen disconnected and stood up before remembering where he was and what he was doing.  “Shit, Jared, I’m sorry. I --”

Jared stood next to him and dropped enough money to cover their bill on the table. “Jensen, it's okay, you can tell me what happened on the way there.”  Confused, Jensen didn’t move.  “I'll drive you to the hospital,” Jared clarified. 

* * *

 

Grateful that someone else was taking control of the situation, Jensen called Josh.  “Josh, I just got off the phone with Mack.  Tell me what happened.”

“Mom and Dad were going out for dinner.  They were up on Lakeview Terrace and Dad had a heart attack while he was driving. They went off the road.” Josh sounded calm compared to Mackenzie.

“Are they okay? How’s Dad?  Is Mom alright?”

“Jensen,” Josh sighed. “You’re on your way here, right?”

“Yeah. We’re about five minutes away.”

“Okay. We’re on the third floor.  I’ll tell you everything when you get here.”

As they drove, Jensen told Jared what Josh said.  When he finished, Jared reached over and squeezed Jensen’s hand.  “Hey, your folks are strong.  I’m sure they will be okay.”

Jensen nodded and whispered, “Thanks,” and squeezed Jared’s hand in return.

 

 

When the doors opened on the hospital’s third floor, Josh was waiting for them. “Hey, man,” he said before hugging Jensen and giving Jared an odd look.  “The doctor’s in with them now. Follow me.”  

As he led them down the hall, Jensen turned to Jared. “Can you stay?” he asked in a voice that belied his fear.

“Of course Jensen,” Jared replied, grateful to have the chance to be supportive.

  
  


The doctor stopped speaking as the Ackles brothers walked into their father’s room. Jensen looked from his father in the bed to his mother next to it in a wheelchair.  “Mom, Dad.”  He rushed to them wanting to hug both of them, but wary of hurting them if he did. He took in his mother’s bruised and bandaged face and her arm in a sling. “Mom,” he said sounding like a frightened child.

“Jensen.” Her voice comforting as she kissed his cheek.  “The doctor is explaining your father’s condition.  We can talk after he’s done.”

“Right, sorry.” He turned to the doctor but continued to hold his mother’s hand. “Please continue.”

The doctor nodded and glanced at his clipboard. “As I was saying, I want you to have a ct scan. I have a stress test scheduled for you tomorrow. Your levels indicate that there is some blockage.  We won’t know the extent of it until we get the results.  Best case, you’ll get a stent or angioplasty. Worst case, a bypass.”

“Wait. Bypass? I thought a mild heart attack. Why are you talking about a bypass?” Jensen asked not caring that he sounded frantic.

“Your father has high blood pressure and high cholesterol. And although both are being treated with a prescription, the attack signifies his condition is not under control.” 

Jensen nodded. “Alright, when will you know more?”

The doctor turned to Jensen’s father. “Alan, your nurse will take you for a scan in a few minutes. I’ll review the results and get back to you tomorrow morning after your stress test.”  He looked from Alan to Donna. “Take the weekend to rest and heal from the accident. I’m scheduling surgery for Monday morning.”

The doctor left the Ackles in stunned silence. Donna stood and kissed Alan’s cheek. She caressed his face, blinking tears from her eyes as she looked into his. “You’ll kick this in the ass like you always do.”

Alan smiled up at her and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Whatever you say, boss.”

Jensen didn’t want to interrupt his parent’s tender moment, but he needed to know about the accident.

Jensen looked from his dad to his mom. “Tell me what happened. Mom, why is your arm in a sling?”

“Jensen,” Donna sighed. “Your father had a heart attack. We lost control of the car. Drove off the road into a ravine and hit a tree.”

“Why didn’t you call me?”

Donna pursed her lips. “I called nine one one. What good would calling you do? I figured I’d call you and Josh once I had Dad taken care of.”

“Your mother had to fight her way out of the car and then climb the embankment before she got a signal,” Alan said with a proud smile for his wife.

“Doesn’t the car--” Jensen began.

“I didn’t know the car called nine one one when it has an accident,” his mother explained. “Besides, we were pretty far off the road.  If I didn’t climb up the ambulance might have missed us.”

Jensen closed his eyes and took a breath to calm himself. Now he worried about the near future. “Mom, we will hire a nurse to help you --”

“Nonsense.” His mother turned to face him. “Josh will move home and help out.”

Shocked at her response, Jensen turned to his brother expecting him to argue. “Yeah, bro. I did go to nursing school,” Josh said nonchalantly.

“To meet girls,” Jensen pointed out in exasperation. “You don’t have a degree.”

“I don’t need a degree to help Mom and Dad around the house while they recover. Besides, would you trust anyone else with our parents?”

Jensen relented. “Good point. So you’re fine with moving back home with Mom and Dad?” Jensen figured Josh wanted his independence.

“Of course. I’ll help Mom with Dad’s recovery and have a free place to live. What’s not to like?”

The nurse entered preventing the conversation from continuing.  “Ready for your scan, Mr. Ackles?”  She asked.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

Jensen’s mom pushed herself out of the wheelchair she’d been sitting in.  “Can I go with him?”

The nurse looked her over. “If you’re coming with us, you should stay in that chair. It looks like you’ve had a rough time of it.”  She looked at Josh and Jensen.  “Maybe one of these nice young men can wheel you down with us.”

“I’ll do it,” Jensen said. “I can call Mackenzie and you can calm her down as we wait,” he said to his mother.

“Or,” Josh injected, “I can take Mom and you can get back to Jared.”

“Jared,” Jensen repeated suddenly remembering he was on a date.

“Oh, Jensen, tell me you weren’t working this late on a Friday night,” Donna said with a disapproving scowl.

Josh snorted, “Mom, he works on Sundays. Of course he was still working.”

“Jensen,” his mother sighed.

“I wasn’t working, Mom. Jared and I were just finishing dinner.”

“Wait, was this a working dinner or a dinner date?” Josh asked. The hint of teasing in his voice made everyone turn to Jensen. Alan stopped the nurse from moving him so he could listen to his son’s answer.

The slight blush coloring Jensen’s cheeks was enough of an answer for his family.

Alan chuckled. “You didn’t fall far from the tree, did you, son?”

“Oh my gosh,” Donna gushed. “You finally asked him out and we had to spoil your evening.”

“Dad, he’s not my assistant anymore. And actually he asked me. Sort of. And Mom, you didn’t--”

“Get back to your date,” his mother ordered. “Josh can take me to your father’s scan and call Mackenzie. We’ll call you later with the results.”

Josh shook his head. “I’ll call you in the morning.  I’d hate to interrupt your  _ date  _ again.”

Jensen gave his brother a sour glare, but his mother added, “Good thinking, Josh. The doctor said he wouldn’t have the results until morning anyway.”

Taking a breath, Jensen resigned himself to being dismissed. “Fine. I’ll leave. Call me when the scan is done. Let me know what they find.”

Josh moved behind his mother’s wheelchair and gave his brother a smirk. 

“Have a good time, dear. Tell Jared we’re sorry for interrupting your evening,” his mother said sweetly, though Jensen was confident she was teasing him.

* * *

  
  


The moment Jensen saw Jared in the waiting room, his stress seeped out of him. He stood at the entrance appreciating the sight of the man.  Jared had his long legs stretched out so that his feet rested on a small foot stool.  He was reading a magazine and the lamp next to him illuminated his hair giving him a halo.

Jensen paused, took another stress relieving breath, and thought about climbing onto Jared’s lap. He’d run his fingers through that hair and kiss him until Jared begged for more. He smiled at his unexpected rush of desire for the man and took a step into the room.

Jared looked up, meeting his eyes. “Jensen.” He set aside the magazine and stood. “How are your parents?”  He looked as concerned as if they were his own family.

“Mom’s got some scrapes and bruises. She hurt her arm climbing the ravine.  Dad might need surgery. They’re running tests.”

Jared nodded and reached for Jensen’s hand to lead him to the comfortable chairs. “We can wait if you want.”

Jensen held onto Jared’s hand, but didn’t move. “My parents told me to enjoy the rest of my date.”  

Confused, Jared looked at their hands as Jensen’s words replayed in his head.  _ Jensen told his family about our date _ . “You don’t want to stay?”  

Jensen shrugged, attempting to look casual. “I thought you had plans for us. I was looking forward to them.”  

Jared paused  then checked his watch. “Yes, absolutely. Let’s go.”

* * *

 

As they drove out of the hospital lot, Jared’s apprehension resurfaced. “So, uh, I was thinking, I mean, I had hoped that after dinner we could, if you wanted to that is, go see this band,” Jared babbled. “We missed the opener and maybe part of the first set, but we’d still be able to catch most of the show. If you want to, that is.”

Jensen wanted to ask what band, what kind of music, where they playing...but instead he forced himself to relax. “Sounds great, Jared. I’m sorry we had to miss any of it.”

“Really? Okay, cool. I think you’re really going to like it.”

Jensen’s phone buzzed a text and out of habit he looked at his phone.

Mack: Jared?!?

Jensen chuckled to himself.

“Something about your dad?  Is everything --” Jared asked. 

“Everything is fine. Mack sent me a text which if I’m reading correctly means she approves of us dating. Or she wants us to duel.”

“What?”

“Yeah, I don’t know. I don’t speak emoji, but there’s a smiley, a couple thumbs up and other stuff, so I’m guessing it’s all good.” He grinned at Jared who nodded.

Jared’s thoughts were swirling, making his heart race.  _ Oh my god I’m actually doing this _ spun around with  _ Jensen’s family knows we’re doing this _ and  _  I hope Jensen likes what we’re doing _ .

When they arrived at a small club, Jared pulled up to the valet. Before handing over his car he turned to Jensen.  “If, at any time, you want to leave, just say so. If you don’t like the band or their music or even if you just want to call it a night, tell me. My feelings won’t be hurt. I only want you to have a good time.”

Jensen smiled at the concern in Jared’s words. “Well, other than the pit stop at the hospital, I’m having a great time.”  Jared still looked apprehensive so Jensen added, “I’ll tell you if I don’t like something, okay?”

* * *

 

They had missed the opening act, but the headliner was just starting.  Jensen didn’t recognize the band’s name on the posters they passed and it was too dark to see the pictures clearly.  Jared grabbed hold of his hand and they kept working their way closer to the stage. 

Finally they stopped and Jared moved aside so Jensen could see the stage clearly. “Holy shit,” he gasped and slapped Jared’s arm. “Holy shit, that’s Rob!” he yelled when Jared turned to him.  He put two fingers to his lips and whistled loudly and cheered with the rest of the crowd.

The excitement and joy on Jensen’s face reminded Jared of a child at Christmas. His boss, no his _date_ , appeared more stress-free than Jared had ever seen him. 

 

At the end of the first set, Jensen clapped, cheered, and whistled more than anyone around them. He turned to Jared, put his hands on Jared’s shoulders and gently shook him. “This is amazing!” He glanced at the stage then back at Jared, his exuberant smile never fading. He pulled Jared into a hug and said into his ear, “Thank you! This is so awesome.” Reluctantly releasing him, Jensen kept his hands on Jared’s shoulders and stared into his eyes. “You, this is perfect. Dude, this is...thank you. I didn’t even know Rob played anymore.” 

Caught up in Jensen’s enthusiasm, Jared smiled. “I’m glad you’re having fun.”

“Fun?! This is the best time I’ve had in years. You’re amazing, Jared.” Honest appreciation shone in his eyes and smile. “Thank you.” His eyes lingered on Jared’s lips as he spoke and he swayed closer as if drawn by a magnet.

The house lights dimmed and the surrounding crowd surged, pressing them together. Not caring about the crowd or the noise, Jensen tentatively cupped Jared’s face with one hand and softly pressed his lips to Jared’s.  Before Jensen could break the kiss, Jared grabbed hold of Jensen’s waist and held him close. Jensen’s lips parted and soft moan escaped him when Jared slipped his tongue against his. 

The vibration of the moan made Jared weak in the knees. Jensen was warm and solid against him, keeping him anchored even though the room slipped away.

The band began their second set and the kiss ended with matching smiles. Jensen turned to face the stage, but kept his back firmly against Jared’s chest. Jared casually put his hands on Jensen’s hips to hold him in place. 

When the band took its final bow, Jensen was tempted to stay and tell Rob how impressed he was with his music. However, he was more interested in being alone with Jared. 

Jensen turned in the small space provided by Jared’s arms. He pressed his cheek against Jared’s so he could speak into Jared’s ear and be heard over the crowd. “I love Rob and his band, but we don’t have to stay.” 

Jared closed his eyes as he warmth of Jensen’s breath in his ear sent a shiver down his spine. The only plans to enter his mind were his x-rated fantasies. As Jensen settled back, Jared slowly opened his eyes to find Jensen’s gaze falling, once again, to his lips.  Jared’s heartbeat quickened and he wanted to have Jensen all to himself. 

Jared nodded, “Let’s go,” and took Jensen’s hand and led him out of the club.

* * *

 

It was a quiet drive to Jensen’s car, both of them silent, coming down from the concert.  As Jared parked next to Jensen’s car, he noticed Jensen’s fingers nervously tapping his leg. Why would Jensen be nervous?  He tried to catch Jensen’s eyes but the man kept his focus straight ahead. “So, uh, thanks for,” Jared began but he was interrupted by Jensen.

“Jared, did you -- sorry, go ahead, what were you saying?”  He turned and met Jared’s eyes. 

“Nothing. I was just thanking you for going out with me tonight.”  Jared’s voice softened as Jensen focused on him. 

With a small pleased smile, Jensen shook his head. “No, thank  _ you _ , Jared. I had a really good time.”  He turned away, studying his fingers. “So, do you think you would want to do this again sometime?”

“Absolutely,” Jared answered too eagerly, then laughed at himself. “I would love to go out with you again.”

Jared’s quick answer alleviated some of Jensen’s nerves and he said, “Okay. Good,” on a breath he’d been holding. He turned to find Jared’s soft eyes focused on him. He licked his lower lip before nervously dragging his teeth over it and noticed Jared tracking the motion. “Would it be moving too fast if I followed you back to your place?” Jensen’s voice was low, luring Jared closer.

Jared’s eyes darkened as they focused on Jensen’s enticing lips. He felt like he was tipping off balance as he answered, “No, you--” Then he blinked and subtly shook his head. “I don’t normally, especially if I’m serious about someone.”

“You’re serious about me?” Jensen asked, a stunned but pleased look on his face.

Grateful it was too dark to expose his blush, Jared answered, “Well, yeah,” and felt as self-conscious as a teen on his first date. “But I still want you to come back to mine.”

Jensen grinned, placed his hand on Jared’s cheek and kissed him.


End file.
